By: Damian Adams
Built today in Mazda’s Hiroshima production facility the 2020 Mazda MX-5 is the real deal when it comes to having a rich heritage to celebrate. For those who know the story of how Mazda came to successfully rebuild after World War Two, it’s truly special knowing that the facility is still in operation today.
Apart from the Japanese brand’s past, the MX-5 sportscar itself has a rich history of its own and a league of die-hard enthusiasts that support it.
In the past it’s been the affordable roadster that driving enthusiasts actually bought with their hard-earned cash and it has been lauded for its genius simplicity. Now, with local new car prices on the perpetual rise the MX-5 is the last standing rear-drive sportscar under R600K. That’s not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but it’s still more affordable than its competitors.
The MX-5 is an automotive icon that has put broad smiles on owners faces since 1989, but this author has, however, never really quite understood what all the hype was about. It’s a tiny drop-top with two-doors and two-seats. Didn’t Noddy drive something similar? Now’s a great opportunity to see what all the fuss is about.
The Mazda MX-5 soft-top roadster was introduced in 2015 and debuted Mazda’s striking ‘Kodo’ design language for the little sportscar. Back then pricing started from a shade under R390 000.
However, to the dismay of many driving enthusiasts this soft-top model was discontinued along with its snappy 6-speed manual gearbox and limited-slip differential a mere two years later in 2017. Even an observer of the MX-5 condition like myself could see that this is a recipe that should not work.
The replacement model you see on these pages, the MX-5 RF (retractable fastback) is a hard-top convertible offering slightly different styling to the rag-top and is available only as a 6-speed automatic and without the mechanical limited-slip differential, this is a seriously big deal. Has the last true fun-to-drive attainable sportscar been severely diluted? The new roof design and the auto transmission add 40 kgs over the now defunct roadster and the suspension has been tweaked for a softer ride. For the hardcore Mazda enthusiasts it seems as though the core principles of MX-5 have been tossed out of the window but to others like myself it seems as though that the legendary sportscar has been adapted to be usable and easy to drive everyday. It’s a tough pill to swallow for purists but as we know the general market for automatic cars has been on an upward trend. It’s time to hit the road and with summer fast approaching it’s the ideal time to get to know what the 2020 MX-5 RF is all about and to settle the transmission fiasco for good.
In the confines of the city the MX-5 is ideal for weaving your way through cut-and-thrust Cape Town traffic. Its dimensions are incredibly compact, making it easy to manoeuvre and forward visibility is good despite the ultra-low driving position thanks to those chiselled lines on the bonnet. These pronounced wheel arch flares are dare I say it Porsche 911-esque from behind the wheel and allow you to be acutely aware of where the elongated nose is pointed at all times. Rear visibility is unfortunately poor thanks to those Ferrari 488 Spider mimicking buttresses creating a whopping blind-spot to the right hand side of the driver. To ease the stress of merging into traffic an intuitive blind-spot monitoring and lane-departure warning system come as standard and reverse sensors take the edge off when alley-docking to show-off that low-slung nose. You do need to swallow a brave pill when manoeuvring around trucks and busses though. The tiny size can make you feel a little vulnerable or it could make feel like you’re part of the action.
Underneath the bonnet, the 2.0-litre engine is highly responsive and surprisingly torquey for a naturally aspirated motor. It’s, however, not the sort of drivetrain you gently lean on to make progress as you would in a turbocharged car. When the traffic subsides and the road opens up the SkyActiv motor needs revs to get really going and it’d happy to oblige with a raspy 4-cylinder soundtrack. It’s still lightweight so you need to maintain momentum on undulating sections of highway and in this regard the automatic works with you to keep the much-need inertia going. At an indicated cruise of 120 km/h in top gear the rev counter reads around 2 750 rpm. This is more than acceptable for a naturally aspirated engine but rumbling wind and tyre noise could become tiresome after a few hours.
Peak power of 118 kW is made available at 6 000 rpm but with Sport mode engaged the transmission will allow you to push to 6 800 rpm (the indicated redline on the rev counter) just for a laugh. The transmission is smooth over all, and adequately quick to react too and it’d hand you 4th from 6th rather intuitively when you wish to over take. It’s inoffensive around town and slick on the open road but on your favourite backroad it’s unfortunately not as crisp as you’d expect in a sports car. For the trackday junkies we suspect that it’d be a disappointment when trying to set the best lap time.
Luckily for the diminutive Mazda our test was conducted on the road. Dynamically on a twisty section of asphalt the MX-5 comes alive as the otherwise overly-light steering weights up. It behaves like a mosquito but not in the typically annoying way, the chassis is feels agile unlike many cars costing under R1 million.
The suspension is supple and communicates the surface of the road through the drivers seat. This soft suspension is not very sporty and body roll is excessive but you can lean on it really hard and hold on for dear life and the MX-5 rewards you with a sense of balance and loads more grip than the chassis needs. The sticky Bridgestone S001 rubber fitted to our test unit is mostly to thank for this. It seems as though the impact of that extra 40 kg resting over your head actually assists you when chucking the car into a corner. The body-roll is so exaggerated and the grip levels are so high that you can experiment with you corner entry speeds.
The RF the sort of car you can drive near to the limit of grip and still feel absolutely glued to the road, while the modest 118 kW mean that you can press on and not jeopardise your drivers license. However, its not as precise and as easy to gather up smoothly when the limit its exceeded thanks to the lack of a limited-slip differential. The rewarding driving characteristics of the MX-5 chassis remain, but the 6-speed manual is sorely missed. If you intend on using the MX-5 RF as a daily driver it makes more sense but it’s not as easy to forgive if it’s a weekend racer you expect.
In my time as a motoring journalist I’ve driven hundreds of new cars but this Mazda has been one of the most difficult cars for me to wrap my head around. Not only is it an easy and joyful car to drive it’s as fast as you’d need a two-seater to be and it’s efficient too. After a week of spirited driving on a variety of roads we recorded a respectable 7.8 L/100 km. If your fuel budget is a concern, this is one the most efficient sportscars on sale. Around town it’s compact and agile while the 6-speed auto makes rush hour traffic less of a pain. On the open road the MX-5 RF is impressively comfortable too and the 9-speaker BOSE sound system is one of the best in the business. It is unfortunately utterly impractical with a small boot and a snug interior but all the kit you could want and need is standard including heated seats, satellite navigation and a full suite of the latest safety tech.
At around the R600 000 mark we’re looking at the front-wheel-drive Mini Cooper S convertible as the closest open-top competitor (albeit a soft-top 2+2). At over R50 000 more with less standard equipment the Mini looks a little silly compared to the Mazda and emphasises the fact that the Mazda is without peers in this area of the market. With it’s open-air charm, grin-inducing rear-driven chassis balance, rich heritage and sensible performance it’s a car I’ve come adore and now fully understand the fuss. Unfortunately cannot forgive Mazda knowing that the roadster was lighter, had a limited-slip differential and was available with a manual. The MX-5 RF package is not ideal but it still deserves its place in the local sportscar world as we simply cannot find another fun-spirited rear-driven convertible for under R600 000. It is indeed the last of the breed and demonstrates that same vision that allowed Mazda to rise from the ashes in Hiroshima. Even the most revered automotive legends need to adapt to survive.
IN A NUTSHELL: Mazda MX-5 2.0 RF
HIGHS
Generous standard kit, the rear-driven chassis balance and that ultra-low seating position
LOWS
Excessive body-roll, large rear blindspots and the auto transmission dulls what could be an otherwise sensational drive
Engine
1 998 cc, 4-cylinder, petrol
Power
118 kW @ 6 000 rpm, 200 Nm @ 4 600 rpm
Performance
0-100 km/h in 8.6 sec (claimed)
Top speed
194 km/h
